It is known in the dental art that the metal posts used for reconstituting pulpless teeth have been abandoned in recent years in favor of posts made of composite materials which provide many advantages and notably better resistance to phenomena of corrosion, and a transversal elasticity modulus similar to that of dentine providing them with better coherence therewith. While posts made of conventional composite materials are set in the root canal with cement, composite posts are made with transparent materials are also known which can transmit light, thus ensuring the polymerization of a setting adhesive as described in patent WO 01/08590.
It is known that the practitioner has various diameters of posts available to him as well as the corresponding drills. To ensure the fast, safe combination of each post/drill pair, it has been proposed that they be given a common color. Thus, the practitioner can establish this combination at a glance. If the color marking on the drill presents no particular technical difficulty, the same does not hold true for markings on the post. Various methods have been proposed for this, notably either by solid-dying the whole post, or applying a color to one end of it, or applying a ring or colored sleeve around the straight section.
While the various means proposed enable practitioners to easily recognize post diameters by their color, each of them has notable disadvantages.
Thus, the solid-dyed posts have the disadvantage of creating a colored sheen through the transparency when used with a ceramic prosthesis.
Applying paint to the tip of the post, on the other hand, stops the transmission of light directly to the inside of it, which requires the practitioner to cut said post before inserting it. Beyond the additional constraint required of the practitioner, this technique cannot be used with posts with a set, predetermined length.
Lastly, using a ring or a colored sleeve on each post is also a long, costly operation insofar as, to date, it has to be done by hand, post after post.